Tucked inside the immense wall of concrete that is Huey P. Long’s clever monument to LSU football, the aptly-named loan closet serves the international student community out of a hot, dimly-lit corridor next to the stadium gift shop.
The Kingfish himself never could have guessed the uses to which Tiger Stadium could be put.
The loan closet is a low-cost resource open only to international students. Here, they can obtain home furnishings and utensils they could not bring from home, said Virginia Grenier, International Hospitality Foundation executive director.
The loan closet’s home in Tiger Stadium remains uncertain.
Once the new Energy, Coast and Environment building is opened on Nicholson Extension, that department’s graduate students, currently housed in Tiger Stadium near the loan closet, will move to their new building.
The loan closet will move also, although no one knows when or where. Grenier said the University plans to remodel the area the closet now occupies.
Soon after its inception in 1960, the IHF realized international students needed a place to find hard-to-pack items, Grenier said.
Because the students have no way to go out and get the things they need, the IHF began taking donations so international students could find items on campus, Grenier said.
Students who use the loan closet pay a one-time $2 fee and then are free to shop at the discounted prices.
Lamps, alarm clocks, pillows, pots and coffee mugs coexist inside the loan closet, each given the minimum price possible. Many items are free, while towels and pillows cost about 25 cents. Alarm clocks and pot and pan sets cost about $5.
Most of the items come from community donations, Grenier said. The loan closet offers these items for free.
Some necessary items, such as mattresses and furniture, do not get donated very often, Grenier said.
“Students aren’t even looking for a bed,” Grenier said. “They’re just looking for a mattress.”
Phyllis Harrison, a loan closet volunteer for five years, said they need more donations, especially furniture, because international students must limit what they bring to the United States.
“Students can’t carry a bed on their back,” Harrison said.
Grenier said used mattresses are hard to find, and students cannot afford to buy a new one.
“I’m sure some students are still sleeping on the floor,” she said.
For other items students need, Grenier said the loan closet director will shop at local thrift stores and pass along those savings to the students. Students also have the opportunity to ask for things they need, and volunteers may do some shopping for the students.
Grenier said LSU officials have been notified about the situation.
“I feel like something will be done, so I’ve just quit worrying about it,” she said. “Space is a premium on campus, and I understand we’re a low priority.”
Interested students and faculty can drop off donations at the loan closet on Thursdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. or call the IHF at 578-3015.